


Rain

by DragonLover19



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, Gargoyle Grunkle Stan, Sick Grunkle Stan, Sphinx Grunkle Ford, Sphinx dipper, gargoyle Mabel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 04:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12523228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLover19/pseuds/DragonLover19
Summary: Gargoyles were known to be tough, strong, hardheaded, and unwilling to back down from a fight.But that didn't mean they couldn't get sick on and then.





	Rain

Rainy weather in Gravity Falls was always a big welcoming for the large forest surrounding the little shack. Water nurtured the ground, giving plants and animals a cool drink. It made the ground soft and mushy, fun to jump around in and get all muddy.

Which Dipper and Mabel Pines were doing right this very second.

The rain had lasted for most of the week, trapping the twins inside the Mystery Shack with nothing to do, boring them to endless tears. Today however, the rain had let up some, being nothing more than a light drizzle. This gave Mabel the idea to play around in the mud, giving her brother a small nudge of convincing before he too joined in.

“Pined ya!” Mabel laughed as she pined her brother to the soggy ground.

“Not for long!” Dipper shoved Mabel off, getting back on all fours and pounced on his sister. The twins tumbled around, rolling in the mud as they laughed and goofed around, enjoying the small taste of fun while they still had it. The weather man had predicted more storms to come soon, so they only had a little time before they were stuck back inside the shack.

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel’s eyes lit up at the sight of her gargoyle uncle in his full Mr. Mystery suite stepping out the door. “Do you want to join us in the mud? It’s nice and muuuuuuushy!”

“Sorry kiddo. Only came out here ta get rid of this trash.” Stan held a round plastic bag in his claws, which he then proceeded to dump in the metal trash bin. “Besides, I don’t like the rain.”

“Awwww, come on Grunkle Stan! Just for a little while? Pllllllllllllllllllease?”

“Yeah. You’re only going to be stuck indoors once the rain kicks up again.” Dipper agreed, laying on top his twin as he looked at his uncle with pleading eyes.

“Better enjoy it while it laaasts~!” Mabel flopped her arms about, splashing up mud. Dipper laughed as some of the mud landed on him, scooping up a paw full of the wet earth and dumping it onto Mabel’s back. She let out a small cry a surprise, grinning mischievously at her brother before scooping up some mud and throwing it at his face.

Stan watched as the young twins laughed as they played about, throwing mud at each other and having the time of their lives. It was nice to see them so happy after being trapped inside for so long. He was sure that they would go insane from boredom if they stayed inside any longer. “Well, you two have fun.” Stan turned to go back inside. “I’ll be inside watchin’ T—”

Something hard and wet hit against his back, same with his right wing. He froze in mid step, eyes widened with surprise. Looking over his shoulder, he could see brown soggy earth running down his wing over his burn mark, feeling that it was the same on his back. Out of the corner of his eye, the small pair of niblings stood frozen, watching their great uncle.

They all stood in a silent moment, no one moved a muscle for a long while.

Until a smirk played on Stan’s lips. Well, he could use a bit of fun too he supposed. He twisted around, crouching down on all fours, posed and ready to leap with his powerful tail swaying in a playful mannerism. That gave the twins only a small second to realize what he was about to do.

In a quick flash, the floor boards cracked as Stan leaped off, propelling himself forward at the twins. They screamed, dodging out of the way as their uncle flew past them, skidding in the mud with an evil smile on his face. “I’m gonna get you kids!” The twins squealed as Stan chased after them, laughing from the near misses and sliding around in the mud.

They ran around the shack a couple times with Stan hot on their tails despite the many trees he slammed into on slippery mud. After a few minutes, Stan finally managed to catch the little sphinx boy, pinning him to his chest with one arms while gathering up a large mound of mud with the other, smiling deviously as the young boy squirmed in his hold.

“This’ll teach ya not ta ruin my suit.” Stan dumped the mud on top of Dipper, coating the young winged lion in brown earth. Dipper laughed as the mud ran down his body, struggling to get out of Stan’s strong hold.

“Mabel! Help me!” He called out laughing as Stan dumped another mound of mud on top him.

“Don’t worry bro-bro! Mabel to the rescue!” Mabel charged at her uncle, jumping on with full force her small body could allow. Stan roared with laughter as Mabel climbed all over him, reaching around to grab her. He didn’t realize that his grip on Dipper had loosened, allowing the young boy to escape and join his sister by crawling all over Stan. The three laughed as they played in the rain, getting soaked to the core as the mud covered their bodies.

The ground underneath Stan was loose however, so when he took a step back, the ground underneath his feet shifted, causing the old gargoyle to fall backwards and land on his back. A stunned silence held over the three before the exploded in laughter, falling in the mud in good mirth.

“Alright ya knuckleheads, get inside ‘fore ya catch a cold or somethin’.” Stan slowly picked himself up as soon as the laughter died down, wiping the front of his suite despite knowing it was good beyond clean. The twins were still giggling as they went inside, racing one another with still lingering energy in them.

Stan smiled as he watched the two, chuckling as he shook his head as he made his way to follow them. He stopped however at the steps, his ears going high and made his body still. Slowly, he turned slightly, claws out and ready as his gaze went to the forest. Sliver shining eyes glared at him.

A crack of thunder crossed the sky, lighting up the area for a small split second, just enough for the old gargoyle to be nowhere in sight.

>*<

Ford couldn’t say that he didn’t crack a smile as the young pair of Pines ran by him all wet and covered in mud with smiles on their faces. Their high energy was quite infectious to spread around in the much needed atmosphere.

For a while the shack had been down and dreary thanks to the weather outside, trapping the family inside with nothing to do but try to pass the time. In a rare long time, Ford found himself getting quite bored with the usual things that kept him occupied in spared time. He didn’t have anything to study for the time being and he couldn’t go out in this weather for obvious reasons. Still though, it didn’t mean he had nothing to do while he waited for the weather to change.

He could still go over his notes and records of past cryptics and creatures. Maybe brush up on some of his studies and if Dipper felt curious, share his work with the young boy. Telling his stories with each encounters was a nice way to pass the time, some of which he could say that his stories rivaled his brother’s own made up ones.

Speaking of brother.

There appeared to be a lack of any sign of his large grey twin lumbering about. He was sure that Stan was around the shack somewhere, though he did recall not seeing him this morning. Ford frowned, looking in to the kitchen but was disappointed that no sign of Stanley was there.

“Kids! Have either of you seen Stanley?” He called up to the twins, peering in the living room in hopes to see Stan sitting in his favorite easy chair.

“He was just outside playing with us a few minutes ago!” Dipper called down, soon followed with him banging against a door and telling Mabel to hurry up.

Ford looked to the door that lead to the back porch, frowning deeply. If Stan was just outside with the twins, then why hadn’t he come back inside yet? He opened the door, peering outside and looked about.

No gargoyle in sight.

“Hmm…” Ford closed the door, shaking his head. Had Stan gone off somewhere without telling anyone? It seemed like a highly probable thing for him to do in some cases. But where would Stan go in this weather? There wasn’t much to do around here that would persuaded the old gargoyle to leave so suddenly. Then his eyes turned to the kitchen. Unless…

Padding back into the small dining room, Ford’s thoughts were confirmed as he opened the fridge. The lack of Pitt Cola cans was an obvious sign right in front of him. And knowing Stan’s love for the soft drink, it was safe to say that his brother had gone out to get more while the weather was calm right now. Nodding his head, Ford closed the fridge, stepping out the small kitchen and headed for the gift shop.

The tiny TV crossed his vision as he stepped into the living room, making him pause to his way to the vending machine. He looked at the clock on the wall and back at the TV. He could wait for Stan to come back up here he supposed. The market wasn’t that far for a gargoyle to travel. Even in this weather.

Setting himself comfortably on the chair, Ford took the remote and turned the little device on. No sooner had he turned it to a documentary channel on animals, Ford’s focus was solely on it. A few moments later, both younger twins came tumbling downstairs, joining him in watching the small device.

An hour went by, still no sign of Stan. It didn’t worry anyone at first. To them, it was natural from him to be away for short hours at a time. They did start to worry a little as another hour passed and Stan _still_ didn’t show any sign of himself.

By the time dinner rolled around, Mabel was pressing her face against the glass as she stared out, looking deep into the woods in any hope to spot her missing grunkle.

“Any sign of him?” Dipper asked, frowning sadly as Mabel shook her head. “He always here for dinner. It’s not like Grunkle Stan to be gone this long and not tell us.” Dipper turned to Ford. “Something must be wrong. We have to go out and look for him.”

“Dipper I’m just as concerned as you are. But we both know that Stanley is tougher than we give him credit for. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.” Ford threw a small glance at the window, watching the rain hit against it and run down the clear glass. “If he doesn’t… I’ll go out and look for him.”

“We should be out there looking for him now!” Mabel tore her gaze away from the window to Ford. “What if he’s hurt? What he’s in danger? What if he got lost?”

“He’s a gargoyle Mabel. He’s the toughest thing out there.”

“But that doesn’t mean he can’t get hurt!”

Both sphinxes were taken back by the sudden outburst, blinking in union as Mabel sadly turned back to watching the window.

“… I know Grunkle Stan’s tough… but… he gets hurt too…”

Silence hung over them, lapping into a steady uneasiness. She was right in some way, Ford thought, looking back out the window. Stanley was certainly strong, but he was also reckless at times and didn’t know when not to pick a fight with something that was clearly stronger than him with no chance of winning it.

( _Not true. He won against a demon, out tricking a master trickster. If there was any chance, he could have given a few rounds against—_ )

Ford shook his head.

Stan had been gone too long. Too long for anything to happen to him. And even more so with him just standing here doing nothing about it.

“I’m going to look for Stanley.” Ford turned, surprising the twins as he headed out the kitchen.

“Wait!”

“We’re coming too!”

“No, you two need to stay here.” Ford looked at them sympathetically as they came to a stop next to him at the door leading to the outside. “Just in case Stanley does come back while I’m out.”

“But what if you get lost?” Mabel grabbed his pants, holding tightly in a stone firm grip.

“We can’t risk losing you Great Uncle Ford. We have to look for Grunkle Stan together!” Dipper puffed out his wings, ready and raring to go out and find Stan.

Ford shook his head. “It’s very admirable you both want to find him, but the both of you are still too young to be out in the woods. Many dangers lurk there, some even dangerous to a sphinx like myself.”

( _And a gargoyle._ )

“Even if I did allow you to come, this weather will only hinder us all, hiding dangers that will be looking to see you two as a snack to…” Ford stopped himself as the twins eyes grew wide. Mentally chastising himself, Ford lowered himself to their eyes level. “Look, I can assure you that be able to find Stanley on my own. If I’m not back soon, we’ll call for some help to find him. I just don’t want to lose either of you to the dangers out there. Okay?”

The twins looked at each other, worry etched into their faces. A moment passed before they turned their attention back to Ford.

“Thirty minutes.”

Ford snorted as he stood. “That’s it? I’ll have you know that I’ve been around the forest in much less time my boy.”

“Ten minutes.” Mabel released her hold on Ford’s pants.

Ford bit his lip, quickly turning to the door and grabbing the handle. “I’ll be back soon. Just remember to stay—” He turned the knob, pulling the door open.

Ford’s mouth fell open as there stood his brother, soaked to the bone, scuffled looking, and a large lack of glasses missing from his face.

Stan stood with his arm out, held to where the doorknob had been moments ago. He blinked, swaying a bit as his hand landed on nothing.

“GRUNKLE STAN!” Ford blinked only for a second, yet it was enough time for two blurs of niblings to jump around him and tackle the old gargoyle with enough force to send him falling backwards.

What he didn’t miss was the pained groan coming from Stan.

Instantly he was by his brother’s side, putting an arm under him and supported his back as he eased him into a sitting position. “Stanley, where have you been?!” Ford looked him over, taking in his brother’s state.

Stan’s suit was in taters, cut and ripped in various places, with more so near the neck area and left leg. Scratch marks lined against the skin, thankfully shallow but were many. His right eye had a crack running through its lid, though it was small enough that Ford wasn't too worried about the potential loss of sight in that eye.

He was however more concerned about the arm Stan was using to cover his left side. The side that lacked the most amount of fabric covering Stan’s rough skin.

“Grunkle Stan?” Dipper pulled back, looking his uncle over. His frown deepened as Stan lacked any response to his nephew. “Stan?” He waved a paw right in front of his face, getting no reaction.

The sphinx pair shared a look. Not normal. Ford moved closer, turning Stan’s head to look at him. The left eye was barely even halfway open, fluttering down and up with a clouded look that reminded Ford the days Stan’s memories would fade on a few occasions. The cracked eye was closed, so ever so gently, Ford lifted the lid to inspect it.

“Is Grunkle Stan alright?” Mabel’s small voice broke through the quietness, clinging to her Grunkle closely as she possibly could.

“No, he’s not.” Ford sighed. “He appears to have a concussion.” He stood up, carefully helping Stan get to his feet. The twins got off of Stan, but kept a hold on him as they guided him inside. Ford kept Stan against him as the gargoyle was much heavier for both smaller twins to move on their own, and to keep him steady from the noticeable swaying in his limp steps.

Stan’s easy chair squeaked as they set him down on it. Once Stan was seated, Ford set straight to work. Removing the black jacket, Ford cringed at how wet the fabric was. “Kids, would you mind getting some towels?”

The pair didn’t move for a moment, but complied after noticing just how wet Stan was. With the twins gone, Ford moved to get a closer look at what Stan was trying to cover. A small whine of protest was made as Ford gently tried to move the arm away.

“Shh, shh. It’s alright Stanley. I just need to see it.” Ford rubbed the arm gently, reassuring Stan as he moved it out of the way. He almost cringed at the sight. A deep gash was made in Stan’s side, exposing the insides of gargoyle flesh. Or rock. Gargoyles didn’t have the same standard molecular structure as other monsters. Their inside were made of rock, gem stones basically by the shine they gave off in the light.

What worried Ford was how Stan could have gotten these wounds. Especially with something strong enough to make a wound this bad in his side. The wound didn’t look life threatening, thank goodness, but it did still concern the sphinx of how Stan received such a wound. Ford’s heart ached as he moved Stan a bit, making him flinch and whine from the action. He had to do this, he reasoned, to make sure that it was just as it seemed to look like right now.

It thankfully didn’t seem to be a major case as he feared. It was small enough not to worry over, but it would require some sealing. Stan still kept that book around didn’t he?

>*<

“Is Grunkle Stan going to be alright Grunkle Ford?” Mabel looked at the old sphinx with hope, running her claws through her hair.

“The wounds aren’t as bad as they seem my dear. I suspect that Stanley will make a full recovery in a few days’ time.” Ford said with a small smile. “I’m just glad he keeps around some already mixed clay.”

“What good will that do?” Mabel eyed the bowl in her uncle’s large paws, watching as he mixed the muddy looking substance around.

“This is basically a special type of bandaged for gargoyles. It’s supposed to help seal up deep wounds or cracks that aren’t supposed to be there. You and Stanley are mostly like living rocks, and this is going to help Stanley heal faster.”

“It smells weird.” Mabel covered her nose. “’S shant nombal?”

Ford chuckled, shaking his head. “No, those would be from the herbs and minerals I added in. Any wounds a gargoyle receives needs as much care from infection as any other.” He stood, carrying the bowl over to Stan’s sleeping form. “We just need to cover the more important wounds with it and hope it dries quickly.”

“It won’t hurt Stan, will it?” Dipper glanced at the bowl, eyeing suspiciously.

“It will have some sting to it I’m afraid, but it won’t hurt him.” Ford placed the bowl down, he shifted Stan slightly so that his body laid at an angle where the wound was more exposed. “I just need to make sure that air pockets don’t get trapped in it while it dries.” Taking a small amount of the mixed special clay, Ford began his work sealing the wound.

Stan flinched as Ford placed the sealant in the wound, but remained slack. As Ford worked the twins shared a glance, looking nervously at their hurt Grunkle. “What could have caused this Great Uncle Ford?”

“There may be a chance that it was a griffin. Or a hippogriff. They are notorious for attacking gargoyles before.” Ford looked back at the twins. “Even eating small younglings such as yourself.”

The twins flinched.

Ford looked back at the wound, inspecting it as he sealed the last of it up. “Alright, we just need to keep this covered as it dries.” Mabel quickly come over and handed Ford a long strip of gauze. “Thank you Mabel.”

“Aren’t you going to cover the other wounds with this stuff?” Dipper asked as Ford wrapped Stan’s middle.

“Just a small layer on a few. But they seem to be fine.” Ford tied the gauze, nodding at his work.

After taking care of the other cuts, Stan looked like a wrapped mummy than a gargoyle. Carefully, Ford shook Stan to a somewhat conscious state, helping him stand up and moved him to Ford’s room. Thankful that even since Soos moved in and installed a bed, Ford set Stan down on the matters, covering him up with a blanket.

The younger pair stayed at the doorway, standing nervously.

“Is there anything we can do?” Mabel asked as Ford stepped out and closed the door.

“Other than waiting for him to wake up, no.” Ford gazed at the broken looks on the twins faces. He knelled down and placed a paw on each shoulder. “Stanley is going to be fine. I’m sure that once he wakes up he won’t want to see you two so down. How about you help me make something for him to eat when he wakes up?”

“Okay.” The twins answered in union, heading towards the kitchen with still glum looks. Ford looked back at the door, sighing briefly before heading after the kids.


End file.
